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Waec English Syllabus/Questions and Answers 2019/2020

Waec English Syllabus

Waec English Syllabus, 2019/2020 Waec English Language Questions and Answers, it is no longer news that Waec 2019/2020 registration and examination is close. So many waec candidates have been asking questions about 2019 waec syllabus and topics to read so as to pass waec 2019 without much stress.

The truth of the matter is that, the relevance of Jamb syllabus and expo on the topics to focus on cannot be overemphasised. There are four weapons you need you need to pass the WAEC 2019/2020 examination. They are:

Credit will be given for (i) Content: relevance of ideas to the topic and its specified audience and purpose; (ii) Organization: formal features (where applicable), good paragraphing, appropriate emphasis and arrangement of ideas; (iii) Expression: control of vocabulary and sentence structure; (iv) Mechanical Accuracy: grammar, punctuation and spelling.

The minimum length expected will be 450 words.

SECTION B: COMPREHENSION (40 marks)

Candidates will be required to spend 50 minutes on this section. The section will consist of two passages each of about three hundred (300) words. Candidates will be required to answer questions on the two passages.

The questions will test the candidate‟s ability to (i) find appropriate equivalents for selected words and phrases; (ii) understand the factual content; (iii) make inferences from the content of the passages; (iv) respond to uses of English expressions to reveal/reflect sentiments/emotions/attitudes;

WEST AFRICAN SENIOR SCHOOL CERTIFICATE EXAMINATION ENGLISH LANGUAGE

(v) identify and label basic grammatical structures, words, phrases or clauses and explain their functions as they appear in the context; (vi) identify and explain basic literary terms and expressions; (vii) recast phrases or sentences into grammatical alternatives.

The passages will be chosen from a wide variety of sources all of which will be suitable for this level of examination in terms of theme and interest. The passages will be written in modern English that will be within the experience of candidates. The comprehension test will include a total of three questions based on (vi) above in any one paper.

SECTION C: SUMMARY (30 marks)

Candidates will be required to spend 50 minutes on this section. The section will consist of one prose passage of about five hundred (500) words and will test the candidate‟s ability to (i) extract relevant information; (ii) summarize the points demanded in clear, concise English; (iii) present a summary of specific aspects or portions of the passage; (iv) avoid repetition, redundancy and extraneous material.

The passage will be selected from a wide variety of suitable sources, including excerpts from narratives, dialogues and expositions of social, cultural, economic and political issues in any part of the world.

PAPER 2: This is an objective/multiple choice paper comprising 100 questions: 40 lexical and 60 structural items. Each question/item will have four options lettered A to D.

A. LEXIS

In addition to items testing knowledge of the vocabulary of everyday usage (i.e. home, social relationships, common core school subjects) questions will be set to test the candidate‟s ability in the use of the more general vocabulary associated with the following fields of human activity:

II. Idioms, i.e. idiomatic expressions and collocations (e.g. “hook, line and sinker”, “every Tom, Dick and Harry” etc.) the total meaning of which cannot be arrived at simply by consideration of the dictionary meanings of the words in the structures in which they appear.

III. Structural elements of English e.g. sequence of tenses, matching of pronouns with noun referents, use of correct prepositions.

IV. Figurative usage

By “more general” vocabulary is meant those words and usages of words normally associated with the field of human activity in question which are generally known, used and understood by most educated people who while not engaged in that field of activity may have occasion to read, speak or write about it. Thus, for example, in the vocabulary of transportation by sea, one would expect knowledge of terms such as “bridge” and “deck”, which most educated people understand, but not “halyard”, “dodge”, “davit” or “thrust block”, which are specialized.

All items will be phrased in such a way as to test the use and understanding of the required lexis, rather than dictionary definitions and explanations. In practice, the test of lexis will be so designed as to explore, not merely the extent of the candidates‟ vocabulary but more importantly their ability to respond to sense relations in the use of lexical items e.g. synonyms, antonyms and homonyms.

In the testing of figurative language, candidates will be expected to recognize when an expression is used figuratively rather than literally.

B. STRUCTURE Structure here is used to include: (i) The patterns of changes in word-forms which indicate number, tense, degree, etc.; (ii) The patterns in which different categories of words regularly combine to form groups and these groups in turn combine to form sentences; (iii) The use of structural words e.g. conjunctions, articles, determiners, prepositions, etc.

Waec English Syllabus

Waec English Syllabus

Waec English Syllabus

Waec English Syllabus

Waec English Syllabus

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PAPER 3 ORAL ENGLISH (50 marks) This paper will test candidates‟ knowledge of Oral English. There will be three alternatives for this paper: Alternative A for School Candidates in The Gambia and Sierra Leone, Alternative B for Private Candidates in The Gambia and Sierra Leone and Alternative C for Nigeria Candidates only.

ALTERNATIVE A: LISTENING COMPREHENSION

This paper will be a Listening Comprehension Test. This will be made up of 100 multiple choice objective items:

Section 4: One of three alternatives below will be used in different years:

(i) test of vowel and/or consonant contrasts in sentence contexts;

(ii) test of vowel and consonant contrasts in isolated words – to be selected from a list of at least four-word contrasts;

(iii) test of vowel and consonant contrasts through rhymes.

Section 5: Test of rhyming.

Section 6: Test of comprehension of emphatic stress.

Section 7: Test of understanding of intonation through short dialogues.

Section 8: Test of understanding of the content of longer dialogues and narratives.

NOTE: 1. Tape recorders will be used for the administration of this Listening Comprehension Test.

Features to be tested:

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I. CONSONANTS

(a) Single Consonants – Candidates should be able to recognize and produce all the significant sound contrasts in the consonantal system of English. For the guidance of candidates, a few examples of such contrasts are given below.

(b) Consonant Clusters – Candidates should be able to produce and recognize consonant clusters which may occur both initially and finally in a syllable. They should also be able to recognize and produce the consonant sounds in a consonant cluster in the right order. For the guidance of candidates, a few examples are given below.

(a) Word Stress – Candidates should be able to contrast stressed and unstressed syllables in words which are not otherwise distinguished. In addition, they should be aware of the possibility of shifting stress from one syllable to another in different derivations of the same word with consequent change in vowel quality. For the guidance of candidates, a few examples of changing word stress are given below.

(b) Sentence Stress – Candidates should be aware that stress in sentences in English tends to occur at regular intervals in time. English is therefore called a stress-timed language. They should also be aware that in most sentences, unless some sort of emphasis is introduced, only nouns, main verbs (not auxiliaries), adjectives and adverbs are stressed. Final pronouns

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should not be stressed, unless some kind of contrast is intended; relative pronouns should not be stressed, nor should possessive pronouns. Thus, for example, the following sentences should be stressed as indicated:

He „went to the „town and „bought some „oranges.

I „told him to „go to the „station to „ask when the „train would „leave.

Did you „ask him?

I „read it but I „didn‟t understand it.

They ar‟rived „yesterday.

The „man who „came.

I „fetched his „book.

NOTE: There are a few words in English that are pronounced differently depending on whether or not they are stressed in the sentence. These are usually called strong and weak forms.

(c) Emphatic Stress – Candidates should be aware of the use of emphatic stress, most commonly to indicate a contrast, which is realized partly as a change in pitch within the intonation pattern. The falling pitch illustrated below is one of the common ways of indicating this:

IV INTONATION

Candidates should be made aware of the different forms English intonation takes in relation to the grammar of the language and the attitudes conveyed by the speaker. There are two basic intonation patterns or tunes: the falling and rising patterns. They should also realize that whereas the normal place for the changing pitch in an intonation pattern is on the last stressed syllable of the utterance (as indicated below), placing the changing pitch elsewhere implies a contrast to the item on which this changing pitch falls. For example:

(i.e, not hers) (i.e, he did not steal it). (i.e, not my book). (i.e, not someone else).

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(a) Falling Pattern

(b) Rising Pattern

Note that (i) the two patterns indicated above may be combined in longer sentences,

(ii) candidates should note, in addition, that any unstressed syllable following the last stressed syllable of the sentence is said on a low level pitch when the pattern is falling, but continues the rise if the pattern is rising. The same rule applies to tags following quoted speech.

They ar‟rived to‟day „Where did he „go? „Come „here!

Statement WH — question Command

Did he „see the „principal? When the „train arrived They arrived to‟day?

Yes/No question Incomplete Question

e.g: When the „train ar‟rived, the passengers were on the platform.

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ALTERNATIVE B

Alternative B is a multiple-choice paper of 50 items testing the content of the syllabus as outlined for Alternative A.